Chico stood with the minister at his Humboldt Park New Life Covenant Church to receive the endorsement. De Jesus had been running for mayor, but did not register any sizeable support in the Tribune’s last poll. In a statement from the Chico campaign, De Jesus said he is backing Mayor Daley’s former chief of staff and Board of Education president because he feels Chico is the most qualified for the job. De Jesus said that the two share a commitment to jobs, fighting poverty and homelessness.

The Sun-Times adds: "De Jesus was losing his battle to prove he had gathered enough signatures to stay on the ballot and a Board of Elections hearing officer recommended he be removed."

R20 readers may recall in the summer of 2009, Daley considered appointing Jesus to the vacant 26th Ward alderman seat. De Jesus' candidacy was promoted by the outgoing alderman but later rejected by Daley after heated opposition from Chicago's LGBT leaders. The previous year, De Jesus made national headlines with his opposition to Chicago's proposed gay high school, which he railed against as "a form of segregation."

De Jesus is the senior pastor of the 4,000-member New Life Covenant Ministries—"one of the world’s largest Assemblies of God congregations"—and is reportedly using his evangelical base to network with churches and launch a mayoral campaign. " De Jesús supporters have also quietly begun to collect signatures to get him on the February ballot, sources say."

On June 3, a network of about 30 LGBT
activists and community leaders met with De Jesús at La Bruqueña
restaurant, 2726 W. Division. “People asked him very pointed
questions about his Web site, which has a page about homosexuality and
how it's sinful and wrong. They asked him if he would change that, and
he said absolutely not,” said Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois, who
attended the meeting.

“Somebody asked, 'What if your daughter
told you she was a lesbian?'. And I looked at this guy's reaction and
it was sad. He looked like somebody threw cold water on him. He said
something to the effect of, ‘That's not how my wife and I raised our
family.' Then she pushed him and he said ‘Well, I would want to know
who did that to her.'“ “I have to say that I don't think he swayed anyone in that room in his favor,” said Garcia.

“Many
of us at the meeting were not confident that Rev. De Jesús would be
able to separate his religious views from his role as an alderman,”
said Lourdes Torres, president of Amigas Latinas, an organization that
advocates for lesbian, bisexual and questioning Latinas, and their
families. Torres said her concerns go beyond his stance on
sexuality and include his position on other hot-button issues,
including a woman's right to choose.

Earlier this week, Rod 2.0 questioned the Tribune's claim that "some gay residents" supported De Jesus and our response was: "It's difficult to imagine they would be welcome at De Jesus' church." WCT quotes one former congregant, a lesbian, who attended New Life Covenant Ministries during the time De Jesus was leading the charge against the Chicago Public Schools' proposed Pride Campus.

Esmeralda Román, said she left his church
because of a sermon that he gave about the school that she said felt
more "like an anti-gay rally." Román, a lesbian, had asked De
Jesús just weeks prior if she and her partner and their three children
were welcome to worship at New Life Covenant. De Jesús said they were. "We
didn't go back because we didn't feel safe there," said Román. "I have
sat in churches and seen people being hypocrites, people lying, people
stealing—but I never felt hate like that at church. That's exactly what
I felt."

De Jesus is the senior pastor of 4,000-member New Life Covenant
Ministries, which is affiliated with the charismatic and very anti-gay
Assemblies of God/Pentecostal movement.

Mayor Daley has until August 1 to fill the 26th Ward City Council seat,
which was vacated when former Ald. Bill Ocasio became an adviser to
Gov. Pat Quinn.

To reinforce his point, he even pledged to seek city funds for a proposed homeless shelter for gay teens in Humboldt Park. 'I would tell [critics]: Isn't it ironic that you're asking me to be tolerant and you're intolerant to my beliefs. How is that? [De Jesus] said. 'We already know there are differences. Let's put that to the side. What's hurting our community today? Let's focus on that.'

Much of the opposition to De Jesus stems from previous public statements and information on the church's Web site. In an interview last year, De Jesus told Christianity Today that his paramount priorities were opposing abortion and homosexuality. In a neighborhood newspaper story about a proposed new high school geared toward gay students, De Jesus raised the specter of a virgin being harassed by gays or lesbians to have sex.

And a member of De Jesus' congregation posted a testimonial on the church Web site about how she 'started doing drugs, drinking, partying, gang banging, fighting and hanging with the wrong crowd. I also lived a lifestyle of homosexuality and sexual immorality.' Through the church, she wrote, "I was delivered from homosexuality, anger, bitterness and resentment.'"

De Jesus is the senior pastor of 4,000-member New Life Covenant Ministries, which is affiliated with the charismatic and very anti-gay Assemblies of God/Pentecostal movement. The Tribune also claims "some gay residents [say] De Jesus' record of community service should trump any concerns about his religious views." None were quoted by name and it's difficult to imagine they would be welcome at De Jesus' church.

Julio Rodriguez, president of the Association of Latino Men for Action,
a Chicago-based gay advocacy group, disputes De Jesus' statements that his
religious views are irrelevant. Rodriguez tells the Tribune: "We don't see how someone who has
such a strong foundation with his church can separate his belief system
[from] his public role, even though he thinks he can."

Mayor Daley has until August 1 to fill the 26th Ward City Council seat, which was vacated when former Ald. Bill Ocasio became an adviser to Gov. Pat Quinn.

02 June 2009

Ald. Billy Ocasio, who resigned his seat to become a top adviser to Gov. Pat Quinn, asked Mayor Daley to appoint Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus, senior pastor of New Life Covenant Ministries, to replace him in the 26th Ward that includes Humboldt Park and Logan Square.Many LGBT activists voice concerns over De Jesus, Laura Washington at the Sun-Times writes:

"De Jesus, an influential evangelical minister with 4,000 church
members, has taken stands and uttered words that infuriate many in the
city's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. His megachurch belongs to the Assemblies of God sect, which believes
that 'homosexual behavior is a sin because it is contrary to God's
created order for the family and human relationships.' De Jesus opposed the proposed Pride Campus, a high school that would
cater to GLBT students, telling the Booster newspaper, 'What about that
girl who is a virgin, who is being harassed by lesbians and guys to
have sex, and yet you're going to build a gay school?' he said. 'It's
not fair.' "

Ocasio's chief of staff, Hector
Villagrana, will manage the ward office until a replacement is
appointed, Chicagoland Public Radio Reports.